5 Ways to Stand out in the Office

Posted on Thursday, Aug 10, 2017

First One There, Last One There

In order to stand out in the workplace you have to be willing to sacrifice. In order to make a great impression and to show your dedication to your work, be the first person in the office, and the last one to leave. In my internship, I am the first intern every morning and have no problem being the last one to leave. Even though not required of me, being the first and last one my bosses see everyday cannot go unnoticed. They know that I go out of my way to be there early and stay later which helps show my willingness to be there in the first place.

No Job Too Small

There is nothing more annoying than the person in the office who wants the bigger and cooler projects, but have no desire to actually do any of the smaller assignments. Take the smaller assignments! Often times, the smaller jobs are ways your bosses are testing to see how you work, how you think, if you’re reliable, and they are more likely to trust you with the bigger projects later. Also, there have been many times that the smaller projects turned into bigger ones, or that I received additional opportunities just by doing the work no one else wanted. It’s not about how small the task, it’s about how you deliver.

Talk, Talk, Talk

As a Millennial, people think we don’t know how to communicate outside of Group Chats and Twitter. And although I know that to be false, we do struggle with holding conversations with people who are a bit older, because it can be intimidating. Don’t fret! It can be extremely nerve-wrecking to start these convo’s, but so many of these people are just holding gems of knowledge that can be beneficial to you in the future. Also, being the only one who decided to hold that conversation in the office, makes you look 10x’s better.

Go Above and Beyond

ANYTIME you are given a task or responsibility, use it as a way to show that you are the best person in that office. I was asked to run and get my boss lunch. She simply wanted a salad. Seems simple enough. Now a regular intern could have gotten her salad and called it a day, completely appropriate. However, why not use this as an opportunity to show her I pay attention to small details. Not only did I get her salad, but I bought her an extra sauce that she liked to go on the salad, forks, knives, spoons, etc. When I got back she was in a meeting and set her salad up in the prettiest way I thought possible. A little much? Probably! Did it pay off? Of course. She was extremely impressed, and it was an opportunity that I took just by going on a lunch run!

Make Yourself Invaluable

If you want to stand out, then make your presence known. Ask yourself: If I missed work tomorrow would it be noticeable, would people care, would anything be different? If the answer to any of those questions is “NO”, then change it. therefore, even as an intern, if I’m not there, there is a noticeable presence missing.

So now that you have these tips and advice, ask yourself, Are you the one?